Washington – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley
(R-Iowa) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today released an updated
version of their bipartisan Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019
and announced that an agreement was reached to fund critical, expiring health
care programs.

“This
updated legislation turns a very good bill into a great bill that will help
Americans afford the prescription drugs they need,” Grassley said.
“Seniors and Americans with disabilities will see even lower out-of-pocket
costs. This bipartisan legislation also helps pay for critical health programs
nationwide. And it achieves all of this without charging the taxpayer a dime
more. Big Pharma will also finally be held accountable to taxpayers who subsidize
their billions of dollars in annual profits. Congress has the opportunity to
deliver a real, concrete win for the American people. Now it just needs to show
courage and finally act. Members of Congress who fail to meet this test will
have to face their constituents and won’t have a believable explanation for why
they chose not to act. It should get a vote soon.”

“This
agreement delivers even more savings to Americans, cracks down on the drug
industry’s tricks, and secures key health programs for years to come,” Wyden
said. “I’m proud of the bipartisan work that’s been accomplished so far, in
particular for Chairman Grassley’s leadership and our commitment to capping
out-of-pocket costs for seniors and requiring drug companies to pay back
Medicare if they increase prices faster than inflation. It’s time to put
Americans over Pharma profits and pass this bill.”

·
The
agreement makes improvements that the chairman, ranking member and other
committee members discussed when the committee reported the bipartisan bill in
July.

· The changes build off of
the $25 billion reduction in beneficiary Part D cost-sharing (over a 10-year
period) generated by the committee-reported bill by further reducing
beneficiary costs on out-of-pocket spending.

· The Part D redesign
section of the bill is improved by changes that:

o
Reduce
the amount of spending that beneficiaries are responsible for during the
initial phase of the benefit from 25 percent to 20 percent, lowering costs for
beneficiaries who have expenses above their deductible.

o
Require
drug companies to provide a new discount of 7 percent on brand-name drugs in
the initial phase of the benefit and reset the brand catastrophic discount to
14 percent, maintaining the overall liability for drug companies from the
original PDPRA while spreading it across the broader benefit avoids a
disproportionate impact on small, innovative companies.

· The changes also include
the addition of two new sections that:

o
Direct
insurers to offer a cap on the amount of out-pocket-costs that a beneficiary
has to pay in any one month; spreading high out-of-pocket costs over multiple
months protects against the burden of a significant one-time expense.

o
Require
Part D plans and their Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) to include concessions
and fees they negotiate with a pharmacy in the price beneficiaries pay at the
pharmacy counter, reducing out-of-pocket expenses and prohibiting retrospective
recoupment of payments to pharmacies as to provide more financial
predictability.

· These changes further
improve the ability of beneficiaries to afford their medications while
protecting the investment in development of new treatments for conditions such
as diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.